Apotheosis
by RoadWild
Summary: Daniel Hebert walks in the footsteps of his daughter. Sequel to Valiance


**AN:** Ok so in about twelve hours of me posting the ending of Valiance I got more than a thousand views and a dozen angry reviews. Well, this is what I meant by the story was never truly about Taylor.

The city was ruined.

Several portions were completely uninhabitable and unsafe because of the water damage, while others looked as if a war had raged within them. Considering how the Endbringer was fought, a war would be a very apt description. A very large number of buildings had collapsed after a parahuman had used a shaker power with some unknown effect, rendering the streets nearly unpassable. By now, many residents had returned to their homes only to find their belongings unreachable, or simply destroyed. Diseases thought vanquished long ago made a comeback. But Brockton Bay would limp on. It had survived the Teeth, the Slaughterhouse Nine, and many of Lung's rampages. An Endbringer would not break it.

Unfortunately for Daniel Hebert, an Endbringer would break him.

But that would happen later. For now, however, he was focused on trying to return to his home. There had been no word from the Protectorate about survivors from fighting Leviathan, but he was sure that Taylor had returned well. He scoffed when the Dockworker's Association entered his train of thought. After Leviathan, they would be lucky if there was a tugboat willing to stop in Brockton Bay.

He had secured his car before the Leviathan fight and made his way to an Endbringer shelter. He originally had planned to escape the city with Taylor, but she refused to leave. The principle made him smile. _Brockton Bay born and raised. We stay here for a reason._

Unfortunately, the path to his home was filled with collapsed buildings and waterlogged areas. Patrols from the police had done their best to try and chart some sort of road, but ultimately gave up the futile task. Until construction crews came in to clear the debris nobody would be driving on the road.

The Endbringer fight had passed without much issue for those in his shelter. Situated near the edge of on district, Leviathan had apparently felt no need to pay a personal visit. He had heard stories of Leviathan ripping open Endbringer shelters and slaughtering everybody within. He shuddered when he realized that he very easily could have been one of those such victims.

Currently he was walking between detritus and taking shortcuts through alleys. He hadn't seen anybody for some time yet, but he knew that even in the wake of an Endbringer the gangs would continue to operate as normal.

His thoughts were interrupted as he came across several men adorned in Empire colours. Given the Empire controlled most of the inner city and east, it was strange to see them so far west. He paused when the group clearly appraised him and tried to look as non-threatening as possible. As much as it disgusted him, it seemed that his skin colour played in his favour. They sniffed and looked away. Danny quickly walked through the group, but froze when one of the gang members asked "Where you going this time of the day? Skittering around like a-"

Danny quickly interrupted the pejorative, saying "Just heading home. The shelter was far from my house."

There was a pause, and the same man responded "Yeah.. he hit us all hard. Good luck."

* * *

The house was empty when Danny arrived, but that was to be expected. No doubt Taylor was bogged down by all the rescue work the Protectorate was having her do. He regretted letting her fight an Endbringer, but Taylor was a smart girl. She knew that she could contribute to the fight, so she did. Now if only she would pick up her phone.

Surprisingly the house was untouched by most of Leviathan's damage. Of course, the entire area was wet, and he would need to have the house's foundations inspected, but the windows were intact, and it hadn't been looted. Danny supposed that even he could occasionally get lucky. Since he didn't have to go to work, Danny really had no idea what to do. Before, when he had Annette, he had entertained ideas of possibly learning an instrument like she had or starting to paint. But the pastels had dried up long ago and he couldn't even think about possibly buying an instrument. It was at this moment he realized that he really didn't have a life. He frowned but went to his room to look for a book.

When he woke up that morning, the lights took time to flicker on. Danny glanced up with uncertainty, not sure if he could trust the old generator in the basement. Despite how much damage Brockton Bay had gone through the most basic of utilities had never failed. It seemed that an Endbringer would test its capabilities. He looked outside, and saw the weather was overcast. Once again, he was unsure about what he could do with the rest of the day, so he decided to try and make his way to the PRT base and check on his daughter.

* * *

The walk through the streets were just as hazardous as they were the day before, constantly having to make detours to navigate around debris. He was trying to make his away around a large crater when he heard it. Somewhere behind him, he heard loud whooping and crashing. Danny turned and clenched his jaw when he saw the source of the noises. Several shabbily dressed men were hanging onto a massive truck while they broke through whatever obstacles were in their way. From the heavily modified car Danny could guess it was Squealer made, though there was no guessing when it would fail.

Danny backwards into an alley, dodging the young Merchants' gazes. He doubted they would harass someone on the streets, but given their modus operandi, or rather their lack of, Danny couldn't risk getting mugged. He let them pass, and then followed the open path their wake had left.

* * *

The PRT headquarters was surrounded by a sea of tents, covering multiple streets. Danny weaved and bumped against the crowd, trying his best to make his way to the main building. Perhaps describing it as a sea of bodies would be inappropriate given which Endbringer had just attacked, but there was no better description. Slowly, Danny passed intersection after intersection, before arriving in front of the PRT building. In which was a very long line. Danny sighed and moved towards the end of the line.

When he finally reached the front of the line, Danny smoothed his shirt and asked the man "Excuse me, I was wondering whether or not I could talk to my daughter? She's a Ward here, her name is Steelback?"

The secretary looked up from a clipboard, rolled his eyes, and said "Please, as if I hadn't heard that a million times already. Get out."

Danny narrowed his eyes and bent over the desk. "I'm telling you; my daughter is Steelback. I'd like to speak to her, please."

The secretary dropped his clipboard onto his desk, and then said "Sir, if you don't leave, I will be forced to call security."

Well and truly annoyed, Danny snapped "Look. I haven't talked to my daughter in two days, during which she fought an Endbringer and helped with reconstruction. If I don't get brought to her right now, I swear to god there is no for- "

"Mr. Hebert?" a weak voice interrupted, "Could you please come to Conference Room Two?"

Danny looked up at the speakers, before shooting a glare at the receptionist and heading towards the stairs.

* * *

When Danny entered the conference room, he was surprised by the person waiting. If anyone, he wouldn't have expected Aegis to be awaiting him. But here he was, and Danny could see why the voice on the intercom sounded so weak. The boy had quite literally sunken into himself, and Danny was pretty sure with every breath the Ward took he could see the boy's internal organs press against his skin. Danny started to speak, but Aegis raised a hand. He struggled to stand up, and finally shook himself up. He kept his head down, and Danny suddenly felt his heart seize in his throat. Aegis finally looked up into his eyes, and said "Mr. Hebert, the fight against Leviathan.. didn't go well. We lost several important capes from the very beginning, and he just.. ripped through brutes like they were nothing. I myself nearly died when he ripped me in almost half."

Danny worriedly looked the Ward over again, before blinking at his 'Stop' gesture. "I'm fine now, just need to eat more. But.. approximately twenty minutes after the start of the fight your daughter was separated from other blasters. She saw firsthand how many people were dying. And she decided to try and stop Leviathan herself." Aegis began to sob, but hurriedly recomposed himself. "She's a hero Mr. Hebert. Just like Dean. Just like Chris. Just like everybody else."

There was silence.

Then Danny was running out of the meeting room, tripping over his own feet to get outside. When he ran out Danny quickly pulled out his phone and dialed Taylor's number. _It can't be true. It _can't_ be true. Taylor-she's just waiting for me to come and pick her up. I'll take her home and make dinner and we'll be fine we'll be fine Taylor is fine Taylor is-_

His rapid stream of thoughts was interrupted by a gloved hand resting on his shoulder. He recognized Aegis' voice, but he couldn't make out the words that were being said. He couldn't do anything but fall to his knees. When he let Taylor become a Ward he never expected this to happen. Never expected Leviathan to attack Brockton Bay. Tears appeared at the corners of his eyes as he realised he had failed Annette all over again. He-he should never have let this happen. Taylor was his, _**HIS**_, responsibility. He had failed her most of all.

_She can't be dead. Taylor. Annette. Taylor. Annette. TAYLOR. ANNETTE_

The world stopped. He saw stars.


End file.
